5 Tips For Aspiring Writers In Honor Of Encourage A Young Writer Day

In case you missed it, today is Encourage a Young Writer Day. So, if you have ever found yourself wanting to become a writer, but didn’t know where or how to start, this guide will help. It will tell you how to start writing as well as how to develop it into a potential career. So whether you just want to write for fun or make a career out of it, this guide is for you!

1. Start a blog.

One of the first things you can do as a budding writer is to start a blog. A blog gives you the freedom to write about practically anything you want without judgement. Moreover, you can share your blog with whomever you choose. Starting a blog may seem like a small thing, but it can turn into something as big and detailed as you choose since you are the one in charge of it.

Another thing you’ll learn from starting a blog is how various publishing sites can be used. Some of them include Blogger, WordPress, SquareSpace, and many more. Many of these sites offer free versions, but you are also able to upgrade your membership for a certain fee.

2. Find a site to publish your work

There are many websites out there that will publish your work. Sometimes, sites will even have recruiters searching for new additions to their writing teams. What’s more, some sites allow you to submit all your original pieces, for example, The Mighty, Thought Catalog, and The Odyssey. Most sites have a target audience that you should be aware of as a writer so that you are directing the piece toward the right site.

3. Become a freelance writer

If you want to continue to grow your writing abilities or have a desire to turn your writing into something more than a hobby, you can become a freelance writer. Freelancing means finding a company or person who needs specific pieces written and creating that content for them. Generally, freelance writers are paid either per article or per word. Freelancing is a great way to continue to build your resumè and earn money along the way.

4. Build your portfolio

Something I have personally found helpful as a writer is keeping a list of the pieces I have published, the websites they’re on and the date they went live. I started doing this in order to make sure I could keep track of what sites I’ve written for and what pieces have gone on them since some pieces have been picked up by other sites. Having this list has helped me in organizing my work as well as showing me my progress as a writer — which is something we all need from time to time.

5. Keep writing

The most important thing that a writer can do to improve is to keep writing. All of us go through periods of writer’s block and moments when we seemingly have no motivation. However, the important thing is that we continue to write, even if we only write a few minutes a day until we get out of our rut. Another thing to try is to change up your topic selection. If you’re used to writing about one thing, pick something completely different. I’ve done this on several occasions, drifting from awareness pieces to research articles. Sometimes I have limited motivation or ideas for one, so I am able to push my creative limits and try to write something for the other — and usually, it works!

I hope this guide has been helpful to you as a writer. Whether you are just starting out or have been writing for a while, these are some of the most important pieces of advice. Do you have any tips you want to share with aspiring writers? Let us know in the comments!